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Feds Begin Layoffs; More to C 02/14 07:22

   The Trump administration on Thursday intensified its sweeping efforts to 
shrink the size of the federal workforce, the nation's largest employer, by 
ordering agencies to lay off nearly all probationary employees who had not yet 
gained civil service protection -- potentially affecting hundreds of thousands 
of workers.

   WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Trump administration on Thursday intensified its 
sweeping efforts to shrink the size of the federal workforce, the nation's 
largest employer, by ordering agencies to lay off nearly all probationary 
employees who had not yet gained civil service protection -- potentially 
affecting hundreds of thousands of workers.

   In addition, workers at some agencies were warned that large workplace cuts 
would be coming.

   The decision on probationary workers, who generally have less than a year on 
the job, came from the Office of Personnel Management, which serves as a human 
resources department for the federal government. The notification was confirmed 
by a person familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity 
because they were not authorized to discuss it publicly.

   Even workers in the personnel office itself were not immune: Dozens of 
probationary employees at OPM were told on a Thursday afternoon group call that 
they were being dismissed and then instructed to leave the building within a 
half-hour, according to another person who likewise spoke on condition of 
anonymity.

   It's expected to be the first step in sweeping layoffs. President Donald 
Trump signed an executive order Tuesday that told agency leaders to plan for 
"large-scale reductions in force."

   Elon Musk, whom President Trump has given wide leeway to slash government 
spending with his Department of Government Efficiency, called Thursday for the 
elimination of whole agencies.

   "I think we do need to delete entire agencies as opposed to leave a lot of 
them behind," Musk said via a videocall to the World Governments Summit in 
Dubai, United Arab Emirates. "If we don't remove the roots of the weed, then 
it's easy for the weed to grow back."

   Everett Kelley, the president of the American Federation of Government 
Employees representing federal workers, said the administration "abused" the 
probation status of workers "to conduct a politically driven mass firing spree, 
targeting employees not because of performance, but because they were hired 
before Trump took office."

   Thursday's order was an expansion of previous directions from OPM, which 
told agencies earlier this week that probationary employees should be fired if 
they weren't meeting high standards. It's not clear how many workers are 
currently in a probationary period. According to government data maintained by 
OPM, as of March 2024, 220,000 workers had less than a year on the job -- the 
most recent data available.

   The firing of probationary employees began earlier this week and has 
included the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Department of 
Education workers.

   At least 39 were fired from the Education Department on Wednesday, according 
to a union that represents agency workers, including civil rights workers, 
special education specialists and student aid officials.

   The layoffs also hit Department of Veterans Affairs researchers working on 
cancer treatment, opioid addiction, prosthetics and burn pit exposure, U.S. 
Sen. Patty Murray, a Democrat, said Thursday.

   Murray said in a statement that she heard from VA researchers in her state 
who were told to stop their research immediately, "not because their work isn't 
desperately needed, but because Trump and Elon have decided to fire these 
researchers on a whim."

   Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, a group that defends 
government workers, said the Agriculture Department's Food Safety and 
Inspection Service would be hit especially hard by laying off probationary 
employees because it has trouble recruiting inspectors required to be present 
at all times at most slaughterhouses.

   The civilian federal workforce , not including military personnel and postal 
workers, is made up of about 2.4 million people. While about 20% of the workers 
are in Washington D.C., and the neighboring states of Maryland and Virginia, 
more than 80% live outside the Capitol region.

   Layoffs are unlikely to yield significant deficit savings. When the 
Congressional Budget Office looked at the issue, it found the government spent 
$271 billion annually compensating civilian federal workers, with about 60% of 
that total going to workers employed by the departments of Defense, Homeland 
Security and Veterans Affairs.

   The government could, in theory, cut all those workers and still run a 
deficit of over $1 trillion that would continue to grow as tax revenues are 
needed to keep up with the growing costs of Social Security and Medicare.

   Elaine Kamarck, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said firing 
employees on probation is flawed because it targets younger workers.

   "Baby Boomers are retiring right and left, so actually the people you want 
to keep are probably most of the people who are right now on probation," said 
Kamarck, who worked in former President Bill Clinton's Democratic 
administration when about 426,000 federal jobs were cut over more than eight 
years in a deliberative effort aimed at reinventing government. "They're 
younger and presumably have better skills, and that's who you want."

   Trump's initial attempt to downsize the workforce was the deferred 
resignation program, commonly described as a buyout, which offered to pay 
people until Sept. 30 if they agreed to quit. The White House said 75,000 
people signed up, and a federal judge cleared a legal roadblock for the program 
Wednesday.

   However, the number of workers who took the offer was less than the 
administration's target, and Trump has made it clear he would take further 
steps.

   Employees at the National Science Foundation and Housing and Urban 
Development Department were told this week that large reductions, in some cases 
a halving of the workforce, would be coming, according to a person familiar 
with the situation who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not 
authorized to discuss it.

   The order Trump signed Tuesday stipulated that government functions not 
required by law would be prioritized for cuts and hiring will be restricted. 
With exceptions for functions such as public safety, only one employee can be 
added for every four that leave. In addition, new hires would generally need 
approval from a representative of the DOGE, expanding the influence of Musk's 
team.

   Trump has praised Musk's work to slash federal spending.

   The Republican president has also been sharply critical of federal workers, 
especially those who want to keep working remotely, though his administration 
is simultaneously working to cut federal office space and ordering the 
termination of worksite leases throughout the government.

   "Nobody is gonna work from home," Trump said Monday. "They are gonna be 
going out, they're gonna play tennis, they're gonna play golf, they're gonna do 
a lot of things. They're not working."

 
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